Monday, February 03, 2014

APTA Selects J. Michael Bowers as Chief Executive Officer

APTA has selected J. Michael Bowers as its new chief executive officer, effective February 28, 2014. The announcement comes after an extensive nationwide search that spanned more than 6 months and attracted roughly 160 potential candidates.

Bowers comes to APTA with recent experience as the CEO of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). He worked at AAMFT in a variety of leadership positions for more than 25 years, developing expertise in many aspects of association management, including advocacy, governance, volunteer development, financial management, and member relations. While at AAMFT, he led the effort to achieve universal licensure for marriage and family therapists, and also improved the association’s financial position by overseeing the purchase of and full payment for a headquarters building.

"On behalf of the APTA Board of Directors, I am thrilled that Michael will be joining us as CEO, and I look forward to working with him," said APTA President Paul A. Rockar Jr, PT, DPT, MS. "Throughout his career, Michael has proven himself to be an innovative and visionary leader who cares deeply about members and staff. He also exhibits a passion for the types of quality of life issues that are so important to mission-based organizations like APTA and to the physical therapy profession."

Bowers will succeed Bonnie Polvinale, CMP, who has been serving as Interim CEO since June 2013.

"I couldn't be more excited or honored to join the staff of APTA in advancing physical therapy," Bowers said. "I look forward to getting to know as many members as possible. My commitment to members and the organization is to work collaboratively, with all my energy, to achieve outcomes that matter for patients and for the profession."

During his tenure at AAMFT, Bowers presented testimony in 22 state legislatures, the US House of Representatives, and US Senate, and has appeared on CNN and NBC Nightly News. He was instrumental in AAMFT becoming a part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Minority Fellowship Program, and having marriage and family therapy recognized as a core mental health profession. He also led AAMFT to its highest student membership in the organization's history.

Bowers is trained as a marriage and family therapist and has bachelor's and master's degrees from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He has prior experience as a therapist in the justice system and also as a minister. He is also an active member of the American Society of Association Executives.

Away from work, Bowers enjoys writing and playing acoustic music, scuba diving, creating great wine and food pairings, and cheering for the Washington Nationals. He also has a special appreciation for the benefits physical therapy. His first grandchild was born prematurely in 2012, and after a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy she has been receiving physical therapy since her earliest days.

Bowers lives in Alexandria, Virginia, where he and his wife participate in the music community as singer-songwriters.

Isaacson, Miller began its work with the CEOSWG to frame the position description, opportunities, and challenges through focused conversations with stakeholders, meetings with staff, and a staff survey. A scope of work document, which included a profile of the ideal candidate, was presented to the Board of Directors at the August board meeting. This information was distributed broadly to all members and beyond, inviting referrals and interested parties to submit applications, potential candidates, and suggestions. IM used these suggestions and additional networks to solicit potential applicants for the position.

The CEOSWG met 4 times in fall 2013 to review the candidate pool (roughly 160 persons of interest), provide guidance to IM about potential prospects to pursue (about 30-45), and to determine which candidates to interview. The CEOSWG conducted preliminary interviews (8 candidates) in early December, and 4 finalists were selected to submit to the Board of Directors.

The Board met in early January this year to interview the finalists and select the CEO.

Comments

I read the choice for the next CEO of APTA with interest. I believe that the experience he brings will help physical therapy move forward to 2020 and beyond and thank the work group and the board for the time and energy spent in the search on my behalf as a member. I did want to share my disappointment that in an important press release such as this our broadened field of physical therapy is limited when "patients" becomes the term of choice. I felt like I was back in the 1970's. We all know that the breadth of our "practice" impacts the lives of many who I would not consider "patients". "Clients" is better, "those we serve and their families" is better...so I challenge our new CEO to find a way to describe who we serve that is broader than the word "patient" would imply. We need to move forward not backward.

Posted by Pamela Roberts
on 2/3/2014 2:27 PM

The patients word is interesting, and I'd like to see a discussion about it. I call people patients and don't think about it. In 18 years I've never had a customer question the label.
Speaking of discussions we should really have a broader one about qualifications for APTA President; and rather, disqualifications. Does our new CEO share our President's views on big hospitals and their HMOs locking private practice PTs out of networks? Is our new CEO an administrator at a hospital network?

Posted by Sean
on 2/4/2014 12:27 AM

I agree with Pamela. I think it would have been better if Mr. Bowers had said "those we serve, and their families...and their families' families. And also, the friends of those families and their families' families."

Posted by Oleg Scaravetti
on 2/4/2014 10:39 AM

"Patients and clients" would be better but i hope we don't blow this out of proportion. The patient-doctor relationship is well established in the medical world. It's familiar terminology to the public. Our profession is facing real challenges, and this isn't one of them. I welcome Mr. Bowers, and I hope we will at least give him until his first day on the job before we start nitpicking his quotes. Let's not pretend that all PTs are united on this terminology.

Posted by JD
on 2/4/2014 11:39 AM

@Sean: obviously the new APTA CEO is not an administrator at a hospital network, as he is the new CEO of APTA. Did you read his bio?

Posted by Marcie
on 2/4/2014 1:20 PM

Food for thought: PR departments write quotes for news releases.

Posted by Clare G.
on 2/4/2014 8:57 PM

I agree with holding back on the nitpicking. and, @Sean: The newsworthy topic is the CEO of APTA, so why not stay on point instead of use this forum for a cowardly and inaccurate post, the topic of which is not at all relevant to the announcement?

Posted by Anthony Delitto -> =HV^C
on 2/5/2014 3:00 AM

Sean: Regarding President Paul Rockar: The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is an Integrated Delivery and Financing System (IDFS) and, from what I understand, it is a $10 billion global health enterprise with more than 55,000 employees, 20 hospitals and approximately 400 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites. The Center for Rehabilitation Services (CRS) includes approximately 50 outpatient sites throughout Western Pennsylvania. It is also my understanding that the health insurance services division for the UPMC Health Plan covers approximately 2.2 million members.
Health care reform has a common theme: anyone participating as a provider needs to prove value; value for the patient and payor within interdependent-multidisciplinary practice models. In physical therapist practice, value is derived from cost and outcomes. Value is inversely proportional to unwarranted variation in health care services. Anyone who has been a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) over the past decade would appreciate that reducing unwarranted variation in practice through development and engagement of evidence-based guidelines is one of the association’s strategic priorities. This has never been as evident as it is so now under the leadership of President Paul Rockar.
A value-based system aims to improve quality, lower cost and drive towards value in health care delivery. This requires identification, selection and involvement of best practices. A value-based design is considered in physical therapy practice when there is use of high performance providers who adhere to evidence-based guidelines. Any organization trying to manage physical therapy services within the challenges of health care reform such as UPMC or Intermountain Healthcare for that matter, are moving to maintain better quality controls and coordination of ongoing patient care.
I, too, am a private practitioner and have practiced for 37 years. To become attractive for inclusion in various network models of health care reform, independent physical therapy practices will need to reduce variance in practice, objectively measure outcomes, manage practice strategies under alternative payment models and demonstrate through hard-data that they can efficiently provide high-quality care.
To move forward let’s look within at the tougher issues by taking ownership in value and demonstrate how we as physical therapists can be identified for it across individuals (patients/clients) and payors. That’s what will get us front and center in evolving provider network models, not trying to passively slam a valuable volunteer leadership colleague who does not control the actions of the total healthcare system he works within. Across his decades of generous time and offices in leadership, Paul Rockar has lead our profession in an eclectic and encompassing manner with our best interests by deploying exemplary fiduciary, strategic and generative leadership. Let us acknowledge that and in that appreciation roll up our sleeves and help him with constructive communication about our concerns and offering to assist in initiatives that address those concerns.
Stephen McDavitt

Posted by Stephen McDavitt -> =IT]
on 2/5/2014 8:34 AM

Welcome Mr. Bowers. It was very nice to listen to your interview. It will be very exciting to see how you develop things. Good luck!!

Posted by Barb
on 2/5/2014 8:59 AM

I would first like to welcome Mr. Bowers as new CEO. Looking at his background, I am confident that he is more than capable of handling the issues of “patient vs. client” and other “controversies” in our profession, which will include distinguishing between “big hospital lockouts” vs. health reform initiatives that will result in selective networking, the latter of which is nothing new to our field. I am also confident that if he wants to know anyone he wants anyone’s views on any burning issue, he will go to the source and not depend on postings in a forum such as this, which tend to have inaccuracies.

Posted by Anthony Delitto -> =HV^C
on 2/5/2014 9:19 AM

Well stated, Stephen.

Posted by Bradley Grohovsky
on 2/5/2014 1:42 PM

Welcome Mr Bowers. I heard you might have some Hawaii ties, so aloha too. It was a pleasure to meet with you at CSM. Sorry for the timing of the prior adversarial, inaccurate, and public posts on YOUR introduction page, there is an appropriate time and place for everything. Perhaps it is a challenge for you to see how those refreshed conflict management skills work following Sunday's Component Leadership Meeting on conflict management! "When you... then I... next time..." Hahahaha!

Posted by Jeremy Angaran
on 2/7/2014 2:27 PM

Thanks for the comments above. As we have seen, Mr. Rockar has two jobs: 1 as APTA President, and the other as a hospital administrator. Why is it so hard to believe that our new CEO may be engaged in similar employment situations?
Mr. Rockar has still not clarified his comments to the satisfaction of many of us, especially those who have been locked out of his network. In addition, there are several issues APTA is taking positions on that may not be in the best interest of its membership. We members should be made aware of his positions on all these topics, and in general.
This introduction story answered none of those issues which should be most important to all PTs and PTAs, members or not. I offer no apologies for asking questions and relating them to recent APTA leadership controversies. It is all of our duty as members and professionals to make sure the people who represent us have our best interest in mind.

Posted by Sean
on 2/10/2014 2:59 PM

Sean: Michael Bowers is not employed by a hospital network. Paul Rockar addressed his role as CEO of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), Centers for Rehab Services (CRS), in an open letter to members last December (http://www.apta.org/APTALetter/2013/12/23/). The position of APTA president is an elected volunteer position, as voted by APTA's House of Delegates (a body of APTA members). The position of CEO is a full-time, paid staff position, as selected by APTA's Board of Directors.

Posted by News Now Staff
on 2/11/2014 9:21 AM

Seems like Sean has some personal grudge against APTA President Paul Rockar. His comments are bordering on ridiculous, particularly regarding his question as to whether or not the new CEO of APTA is also 'working on the side" as a hospital administrator. Seriously?? As for your charge that "Issues that APTA is taking positions on that may be not be in the best interest of its membership" - please clarify and be specific. What exact issue has APTA taken a position on that you feel is not in the best interest of membership??

Posted by Janice
on 2/11/2014 11:03 AM

Exactly Janice! Sean, please explain exactly with examples and metrics; what specific position APTA as led by Dr. Rockar has taken that you feel is not in the best interest of membership? Also in detail, in order to abate this condition for the membership based on the current strategic plan, what are your recommendations/action plans, how should the APTA BoD and Staff a lot their time so that it can be budgeted, what time frame do you expect it to take to complete and how do you plan to personally pitch in to enact and expedite those initiatives? Stephen McDavitt

Posted by Stephen McDavitt -> =IT]
on 2/12/2014 9:01 AM

Janice and Steven, please take a deep breath and not start using words like ridiculous.
In answer to your questions:
I have no personal feelings about Mr. Rockar. As I said above, his open letter to membership did nothing to change my feelings.
The current trend around the country is for large hospital systems to buy up as many physician practices as possible. Then in no uncertain terms force them to refer for profit to their employer. When the hospital and HMO are virtually the same company, as in the Paul Rockar situation, forcing private practice providers out of the network is just one more step. This is absolutely an anti-competitive, anti-Physical Therapist in private practice scheme. Maybe you’re unaware of these happenings. Maybe you benefit from them as hospital employees or administrators yourselves. I cannot see how a PT who seemingly keeps abreast of our professional issues could connect the dots.
Other questionable attempts by APTA leadership (not necessarily Paul Rockar) are:
Standardize everything to Medicare rules – violates many state practice acts
Require the DPT - it has done very little on the positive side. However is does make it virtually impossible for someone from modest means to afford the education. But on the bright side it fills the coiffeurs of universities who teach very little more than they did 20-30 years ago when the BS was the most common entry level degree.
Attempting to ban the use of techs across the board - violates many state practice acts
Attempting to make the PTA degree a bachelor’s degree.
These are just off the top of my head and in no specific order.

Posted by sean
on 2/13/2014 6:00 PM

above comment should have read I canon see how a PT keeping up with our issues could NOT connect the dots.

Posted by sean
on 2/13/2014 9:32 PM

Stephen,
There is a great group of leading therapists/clinicians/researchers who have a wonderful alternative to what APTA leadership has proposed. They even have a website. I'm sure you are aware of it and I align my views with much of what they say.
I googled you and saw your public Linkedin profile so I guess I have you at a disadvantage. Because of that I feel this is an inappropriate stage to have this debate until we have had a private exchange, I do not feel the comments section is the place for it. As far as strategic planning, et al. I don't mind the comments section of this article being the place, but I think it should be much more public at least to APTA members. So I give the APTA page administrator permission to allow you to contact me privately via the email that I supplied to make this comment.

Posted by sean
on 2/13/2014 10:16 PM

Sean: Because you are not logged in and have not provided your full name for cross-referencing with the membership database, we have no idea who you are. You are commenting anonymously in a discussion about transparency. (The e-mail provided when you post a comment on the site is a function to prevent spam.)

Posted by News Now Staff
on 2/14/2014 10:17 AM

Thanks for the info News Now Staff. I was not aware i was posting anonymously.

Posted by sean hayes
on 2/14/2014 10:32 AM

I agree on the debate environment but you brought it here and now it is being followed. In response, I am glad to see the meat of the issue coming out as opposed to unnecessarily berating President Rockar especially when it appears you have not had direct experience practicing in PA with the UPMC issues and have not even taken the time to contact President Rockar to address your concerns with him directly. Also, I am not sure what your point is about Medicare. APTA does not tell CMS what to do any more than Paul Rockar tells UPMC what to do. As far as the DPT is concerned, advancing practice competency and privilege comes with a cost. It is the same for all Doctoring professions. Frankly, the DPT debate for the profession left the station well over a decade ago moving forward through the deployment of Vision 2020. Even though portions of Vision 2020 remain in the APTA strategic plan, we are as an association beyond it and through APTA consensus have a new vision where our proposed demands will be addressing the needs of society. As far as delegation based on education is concerned, it is the rigor and ownership of sanctioned competency that is the issue for both effectiveness and safety. We are currently trying to get a handle on the advancement of proficiency for the PTA based on rigor and sanctioned competency as opposed to recognition by recommendation. BS is not necessarily the only option or the best method. The bottom line as I see it is, regardless who PTs choose to delegate to it should be based on competency and completeness for the care and that includes sharing service not only with supportive personnel but with another PT or other health care professional. Unfortunately though, desires and controls on such a process are limited and appropriate delegation is not always exercised. In those cases we can control however, we need to be responsive and responsible to demarcate and validate the competencies in such decisions and selections. Lastly, as you must have noticed from the search you declared, I am a full time PT treating a full case load every day I am not an administrator. I face the same challenges as any every day PT. I am also free to discuss this with you personally but you might start with President Rockar. Stephen McDavitt

Posted by Stephen McDavitt
on 2/16/2014 11:41 AM

Stephen, you're trying to change this into a discussion about APTA policy on everything but referral for profit. Unless I missed that in your reply. As most of us know referral for profit is killing private practice. Primarily from hospitals these days. We already get less reimbursement for the same if not better services (just like cardiologists) because we're not employed by a hospital. I can understand if some CPA or career hospital employee is drinking the Kool-aid, but our volunteer director of the APTA is seemingly the hatchet man. I could be wrong for instance if he de-credentialed some of his own company's facilities or PTs, but we both know that would never happen.
However you do bring up some very interesting topics with some even more interesting statements. So I'll take the bait of distraction over discussion of the issue at hand.
There have been people in APTA leadership who support making Medicare guidelines the standard for all patients, across the board. This would be accomplished via changing state practice acts. I'm not sure why you would think I was referring to the APTA telling CMS what to do. Based on the fact that we are getting more regulation, caps, etc., only a fool would believe anyone at APTA has any significant influence. As far as contacting Paul, I'm pretty sure he's not going to take my call, even if I had his number. I'm not sure I would want him to. This is not a topic for one on one conversation, it is a topic which affects every PT in private practice.
Regarding the DPT, I don't believe it has advanced practice in the slightest. But it has helped us change admission criteria to the point where we are getting great didactic students sometimes at the cost of people who can effectively interact with their clientele. That coupled with the fact that today's grads come out with 2X their annual salary in student loan debt. It's definitely time to evaluate the failure to be recognized as a doctoring profession juxtaposed against dwindling reimbursement, the lack of unfettered direct access, and university greed. In my 17+ years as a PT, I have to look at the facts and say the DPT is an utter failure. It has delivered nothing that was promised, and is actually hurtful to every student whose family was not independently wealthy. MORE CLASSES WITH HIGHER DEGREED TEACHERS DOES NOT ADVANCE COMPETENCY and it has done nothing nationally to advance privilege. Better, longer clinical experience is what has done that. Along with great research primarily coming from the military and the companies they have created since. Also I'd like to mention that one prominent PT school apparently was not eligible to receive federal student loans for one of my former co-worker's education. She was forced to get private loans at 14% interest. I'm only taking her word for it, but that is unconscionable, if true.
Which brings me to the very reasonable cost of the PTA education. I have had wonderful PTA student experiences, save one. They are more practical, willing to learn, and can follow directions. They also tend to have better people skills and are better workers. Why the heck does anyone want to change that?
The bottom line is that the destruction of our healthcare system that is already happening should not be worsened further by mandating referral for profit in the hospital setting.
We are reverting to the "company town", "the company store", etc by having the conglomerate universities/HMOs/employers turning students into indentured servants. Average cost of a DPT is around $170,000. They keep increasing the number of programs and graduates which drives down wages. There is no opportunity to compete alongside these conglomerates because they will not fairly reimburse PPPTs for services, if at all. As average American wealth and wages continue to fall, how many people will pay $100 for a visit when their insurance allows them to only pay $40 at the company store? How is any of this good for our brother and sister PTs and PTAs? How would our leaders at APTA feel if they had to pay $1400 per month for student loan debt, for 25 years? That is a house payment, and that is what the wonderful DPT and hospital/HMO/university cartel has done for us. Bravo!

Posted by sean
on 2/17/2014 2:44 AM

Sean, you profess evidence in practice but you come forward with comments without even having discussed any of these issues of your concern directly with the sources or inquiring based on direct evidence. I think you need to talk to those “people in APTA” you degrade about education, Medicare, and Advocacy including Paul Rockar. To presume he or they will not speak with you is your choice and assumption. I know he would speak with you as any Board or staff member would speak with any member, especially when there are concerns and conflicts. That ball is in your court. It is very evident we see very differently on these issues and respectfully I will have to agree to disagree and leave it at that. Thank you for sharing in this dialogue. Stephen McDavitt

Posted by Stepehn McDavitt
on 2/17/2014 9:41 AM

Stephen,
I talked to Paul. He was very generous with his time relative to the short notice I was able to give him/cancellation of our first call. I had to cut the conversation short due to a patient coming in. He let me know that our CEO was thoroughly vetted and did not have any ties to RFP clinics/hospitals etc. Glad to hear that. Apparently there were some errors in one of the articles written about UPMC's network and they put a private clinic in a lower tier, rather than booting him off the network. Also he said half the network’s clinics are private, non-UPMC-owned - I forgot to ask if the majority of those were in/outside the metro area. He also stated that he was thoroughly vetted and was asked a bunch of questions about his relationship with UPMC prior to being elected president of APTA.
To summarize, I still have no personal grudge against Paul. And I stand by my comments above, other than the networking story misquote. He does not believe what his company does is RFP, and I do. He pretty much told me who to talk to if I didn’t like how things were going at APTA. And that it’s not him. I need to talk to local employees/appointees apparently.
Tony,
Paul told me I should contact you about education. While my conversation with Paul was pleasant, it did nothing to assuage my concerns. It may have done the opposite. But time will tell. Anyhow, he has my number and email address. So if you want to get in touch, feel free to contact me.

Posted by sean
on 2/21/2014 7:21 PM

Sean: Thank for the phone call. We covered a lot of material yesterday and I want to provide clarification on a couple of points. The newspaper article did not adequately represent that there are numerous tier one providers that are not in-house health system providers in the product that was referenced. It also did not mention that the other major insurer in the area offers a narrow network product that is also tiering providers or closing them out. My organization, for example, cannot get into that product as a provider. The percentages I referenced were in regard to the number of visits provided for the health plan. Our organization provides approximately 52% of them and other clinicians provide the others. The overall network provider list is not 50-50 and our organization is the majority. Also I didn’t mean to imply that as President I don’t want to hear from members regarding their concerns. My advice revolved around the role of the APTA House of Delegates. The House, being the elected representative body of the membership, sets policy for the Association and gives direction to the Board of Directors. My point is how critical it is for members provide their delegations to the House with input on what issues regarding policy and direction should be brought forward as well as input on the recommendations brought forward by other components regarding their support, non-support, or thoughts on change. The example I presented was the topic of the PTA education. The House directed the Board to investigate the options and we are doing so. In addition I mentioned the Town Hall Meeting held on Thursday evening regarding proposed recommendations to this June’s House was great. It is fantastic that at this point in February individuals are sharing concepts and ideas so that we can have fruitful debate in June. I tip my hat to the Reference Committee, the House Officers, and the Governance Staff for pushing us into discussion early and often.
Again, thank you for the call and thank you for being a member.
Paul

Posted by Paul Rockar -> DFTcA
on 2/22/2014 12:52 PM

Paul thank you for the response. I'm sure it was not easy to field many of my questions addressing your employment. Maybe I did not properly convey my respect for how you handled yourself, so I commend you for being courteous and forthcoming on that issue. However you absolutely passed the buck on virtually every other issue. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but it is accurate. I'm also not saying you should be Omniscient on all things APTA, but you did not provide many details as to what you thought we should do. As President, I'd like to know what you think about these issues. Based on that, I have to ask, is APTA President a predominantly political one? Truth be told, I never thought I'd have to worry about any of this until recent revelations. I never delved deeply into the policies and procedures of APTA governance, nor did I have the time/desire to do so. Maybe I'm just asking the wrong person.
Regarding you comments above:
I find it disturbing that you justify your system's behavior by saying "well the other guy is doing it too." To quote most of our parents, "if everybody's jumping off the bridge, will you do it too." The fact that another large healthcare system is not allowing your clinics to participate in their network is a very real problem. So is yours allowing them to be providers?
Regarding your comments on proposals to the HOD: Most of us didn't get into PT to get signed plans of care from doctors every 10th visit, nor did we want to have to fight for our survival politically with fellow PTs. But we seem to have arrived there. Yet you mentioned multiple pieces of the APTA bureaucracy working on changing PTA education. The problem with the educators is that they believe entry level education prepares us for anything. In reality, it only prepares us for not looking like complete idiots in the clinic. It gives us a knowledge base and we use that for clinical reasoning; which good clinicians actually teach student PTs and PTAs. The lack of exceptional clinical experience and poor admissions procedures are responsible for most student shortcomings today.
Wouldn't their energy be better spent on, I don't know, maybe 8-10 other issues more important to the rank and file APTA member? National direct access; eliminating the 8 minute rule, GCodes, the therapy cap, and differing rules by site classification; referral for profit in hospitals; RFP in doctor offices; and the outrageous cost of education ($202,000 tuition at Pitt, plus my estimated $22K per year for living expenses adds up to $350,000 for a 7 year DPT - at which one earns an estimated $55-60K per year starting salary). Again, this is not directed solely at Paul. It's also aimed at our new CEO, and the alphabet of subgroups, workgroups, and elected positions that need to focus on real world solutions. DPTs are no better prepared for the clinic than BSPTs were.